"A romantic weekend in Rotorua? Ha, where are you having your wedding? Gore?"

Very funny.

"Hey, where are you honeymooning? Tokoroa?"

Hilarious.

Maybe it's just the sort of friends I have but they did not seem to think of the sulphur city as a place where love could flourish.

And I must admit, I too was not convinced.

Rotorua is best known as an adrenalin-fuelled, Maori-themed tourist haven; somewhere for international travellers to tick off their list.

"Vegas."

It's less popular among Kiwis, many of whom don't see past the ubiquitous motels and fast-food outlets, and of course, that smell.

The drive down from Auckland did little to create an atmosphere of amorous serenity.

A nose-to-tail on the southern motorway damned up the river of rubber-neckers heading away for a long weekend as Otis Redding and my fiancee took turns in keeping me calm.

When Otis sang about being "born by the river", I don't think he was talking about the Waikato River, but it did the trick.

The traffic eventually cleared, as did the weather, and before we could brace ourselves for a waft of eau de sulphur, Rotorua was upon us.

It took just minutes to drive through the almost traffic-free centre, pass the huge redwoods and wind round the lakes to our secluded getaway, but it wasn't until we arrived that we became fully aware of our glorious surroundings.

Nestled on an outcrop on Lake Tarawera sits Solitaire Lodge, with full views of Mt Tarawera, the once-mighty volcano that still inspires awe.

"A lot of places call themselves lodges nowadays but we are one of the original lodges," owner Wayne Tomlinson said.

Solitaire is the second-oldest luxury lodge in New Zealand, opened in 1980.

It was originally set up as a fishing retreat with the focus mainly on overseas visitors - often American fishing enthusiasts.

Now the lodge attracted clientele from all over the world.

Tomlinson was proud of his exclusive slice of heaven, and as we looked around we realised he was not exaggerating its charms.

It's hard to adequately emphasise the peace and beauty of the place, surrounded by native bush and chittering fantails on almost every tree branch.

A jaunt past the lodge's helipad down to the clear lake had us wishing we had time to use the various water craft and private fishing boat to catch one of the lake's famed rainbow trout.

As the lodge caters largely to international guests we worried the five-star accommodation might come with not so down to earth staff.

But this is Rotorua and one thing people there can do is make you feel at home.

Alright, Tomlinson is from Wellington originally (taking over Solitaire six years ago) but his fantastic general manager Graham Wilcox is a Rotorua boy and has worked in more exclusive hotels and lodges than he can count on his fingers and toes.

Somehow we were persuaded to discard our fear and throw ourselves off six tiny wooden platforms that sat so high in the trees we couldn't see the ground.

It was strangely rewarding, and the follow-up conservation messages about just how much daily work went into ridding the forest of bird-killing pests made us realise we were pretty damned lucky to be able to enjoy it.

The adrenalin rush left us starving, and after filling up at Picnic Cafe we rushed back to the lodge to cram in as much quiet time as possible.

This was made easy with our luxurious room's private outdoor bath and a glass of good wine.

If you were going to pop the question, that would be the time and place to do it.

Thankfully my fiancee had succumbed to a slapdash beach proposal a few weeks earlier so I was off the hook.

Dinner at Solitaire Lodge truly is something special.

After being plied with pre-drinks and canapes we ploughed our way through a five-course dinner, with standout dishes of crab ravioli, pineapple and mint sorbet, and deep-sea hapuka.

If only life was like that.

It's hard to imagine the novelty wearing off.

Beyond the gimmicky cultural tours and plastic souvenir tiki, and even deeper than the geothermal life running under Rotorua, there's an indomitable soul to the place.

It will forever be in competition with hotspots like Queenstown and the big cities for the overseas tourist dollar but one day Kiwis might realise just because it doesn't have an ocean beach to lie on or a mountain to ski down there are plenty of reasons to visit Rotorua.

And since my mates gave such great advice, we're shelving wedding plans for Rarotonga and checking whether Tokoroa has any motels with a pool.